Letter, photograph and envelope, Percy R Manson
Maker
Manson, Percy Robert
Production date
1918
Current rights
Public Domain
See full details
Object detail
Brief Description
Letter, photograph and envelope from Percy R Manson.
a) Letter from Percy R Manson to his mother. Written while on active service in Palestine and dated 28 February 1918. The letter reads:
Dear Mother,
I now take up my pencil to write you a few lines in answer to your most ever welcome letter which came to hand yesterday. Very pleased to see that you have been enjoying the best of health & that you are about to take a holiday accompanied by Tot up the Main Trunk Line. Today being the 28th Feb is just two years since I left the shores of NZ for this country. The time seems to have gone fairly fast but yet in another way it seems much longer than two years, but I would sooner be over here for another two years than go back now, when the war is un finished. No doubt it will come very hard on some of the married men with families having to come away. The country of Palestine is very interesting to see, being the Holy Land. Yesterday I went to see the Hill of Temptation which I am enclosing a photo of which on of the Monks at the Monastery gave me. The monastery inside is very pretty, the painting of Christ are worth seeing & in the monastery still stands the rock were Jesus fasted for forty days & nights before he was offered the seven kingdoms if he would follow Satan. Then we have not very far away from here the place where Jesus was baptized on the River Jordan. Jericho is a very dirty poverty stricken place, inhabited by a few Greeks & Arabs. The place is supposed to be the hottest place in the world in summer, & I don’t think any white people could stand it in summer because of the fever that is there in summer. It is about three thousand ft. below Jerusalem & the distance is about twenty miles. I did not see much of Bethlehem, we only rode through it one morning & my first impression of it was that it was a dirty looking place. There still stands the place were Christ was born. Jerusalem is very fine place. In the new town there is some very fine buildings. It takes about a week to see everything there is to be seen there. I had a letter from Vin about a week ago, he wishes to be remembered to you all at home. He is getting on fine over in France. I have not heard from Walter since he landed in England. I wrote a letter to him the other day enclosing my address so I am expecting a letter from him any day now, as it does not take long for letter to come from England to here, that is if they don’t get sunk. The weather has been very changeable, we have had a fair amount of rain this last winter. The rain fall for Palestine is something like 192 inches per year, so you will see that it is not sun shine all the time. I see by your letter that Clive has got a girl up the Main trunk Line. I am I will be the only single one left in the family before many years. I don’t think girls will bother me much, I will stay single and keep you company. How is Alf & Stella getting on at Tekingo. I wrote to them but never received a reply so I suppose they have not got time to write. I have a chap from Greymouth in the same section as me who knows the Kettles well. So I get a bit of news from Greymouth from him occasionally. Well I think this is all the news this time. Hoping these few lines will find you in the best of health as they leave me at present.
I am Your loving son
Percy Robt Manson.
b) Black and white photograph of a hillside with a fortress on the top and buildings around the lower slopes. At the bottom is 5 words of Cyrillic writing. According to the accompanying letter this photo was given to Percy by a monk at the Hill of Temptation which is in the picture.
c) Military issue envelope for use on active service. Addressed to Mrs S Manson.
a) Letter from Percy R Manson to his mother. Written while on active service in Palestine and dated 28 February 1918. The letter reads:
Dear Mother,
I now take up my pencil to write you a few lines in answer to your most ever welcome letter which came to hand yesterday. Very pleased to see that you have been enjoying the best of health & that you are about to take a holiday accompanied by Tot up the Main Trunk Line. Today being the 28th Feb is just two years since I left the shores of NZ for this country. The time seems to have gone fairly fast but yet in another way it seems much longer than two years, but I would sooner be over here for another two years than go back now, when the war is un finished. No doubt it will come very hard on some of the married men with families having to come away. The country of Palestine is very interesting to see, being the Holy Land. Yesterday I went to see the Hill of Temptation which I am enclosing a photo of which on of the Monks at the Monastery gave me. The monastery inside is very pretty, the painting of Christ are worth seeing & in the monastery still stands the rock were Jesus fasted for forty days & nights before he was offered the seven kingdoms if he would follow Satan. Then we have not very far away from here the place where Jesus was baptized on the River Jordan. Jericho is a very dirty poverty stricken place, inhabited by a few Greeks & Arabs. The place is supposed to be the hottest place in the world in summer, & I don’t think any white people could stand it in summer because of the fever that is there in summer. It is about three thousand ft. below Jerusalem & the distance is about twenty miles. I did not see much of Bethlehem, we only rode through it one morning & my first impression of it was that it was a dirty looking place. There still stands the place were Christ was born. Jerusalem is very fine place. In the new town there is some very fine buildings. It takes about a week to see everything there is to be seen there. I had a letter from Vin about a week ago, he wishes to be remembered to you all at home. He is getting on fine over in France. I have not heard from Walter since he landed in England. I wrote a letter to him the other day enclosing my address so I am expecting a letter from him any day now, as it does not take long for letter to come from England to here, that is if they don’t get sunk. The weather has been very changeable, we have had a fair amount of rain this last winter. The rain fall for Palestine is something like 192 inches per year, so you will see that it is not sun shine all the time. I see by your letter that Clive has got a girl up the Main trunk Line. I am I will be the only single one left in the family before many years. I don’t think girls will bother me much, I will stay single and keep you company. How is Alf & Stella getting on at Tekingo. I wrote to them but never received a reply so I suppose they have not got time to write. I have a chap from Greymouth in the same section as me who knows the Kettles well. So I get a bit of news from Greymouth from him occasionally. Well I think this is all the news this time. Hoping these few lines will find you in the best of health as they leave me at present.
I am Your loving son
Percy Robt Manson.
b) Black and white photograph of a hillside with a fortress on the top and buildings around the lower slopes. At the bottom is 5 words of Cyrillic writing. According to the accompanying letter this photo was given to Percy by a monk at the Hill of Temptation which is in the picture.
c) Military issue envelope for use on active service. Addressed to Mrs S Manson.
Collection
Production date
1918
Production place
Production period
Production technique
Media/Materials description
a) Handwritten in pencil on lined paper.
b) Photograph
c) Printed in green ink on white paper with handwriting in blue and black ink. Black ink stamps.
b) Photograph
c) Printed in green ink on white paper with handwriting in blue and black ink. Black ink stamps.
Media/Materials
Measurements
Height x Width: 240 x 198mm
Height x Width: 154 x 111mm
Height x Width: 104 x 150mm
Height x Width: 154 x 111mm
Height x Width: 104 x 150mm
Signature/Inscription
To: Mother From Percy Manson Jericho Feb 28, 1918, Inscription, Handwritten
Tpr P R Manson, Inscription, Handwritten
6 March, Stamp, Stamped
Mrs S Manson at Napier Terrace, Napier, Inscription, Handwritten
Tpr P R Manson, Inscription, Handwritten
6 March, Stamp, Stamped
Mrs S Manson at Napier Terrace, Napier, Inscription, Handwritten
Classification terms
Subject person
Subject period
Subject date
28 Feb 1918
Current rights
Public Domain
Credit line
gifted by the Millin Trust
Other number(s)
m2002/25/385, 70261
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